System and method for utilizing excess printing capability

ABSTRACT

The present invention is a system and method for utilizing excess printing capacity. The present invention utilizes a printing network that consists of a printing service provider, one or more print jobs, a printing distribution system, and printing partners. The printing service provider uses a printing distribution system to distribute standardized print jobs to printing partners at a fixed price.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser.No. 60/360,791, filed on Mar. 1, 2002, the contents of which is herebyincorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The traditional process of purchasing commercial color printing can betime consuming and error-prone. This has led businesses to rely on adagencies and graphic designers to design and buy their printedmaterials. Unfortunately, the expense of ad agencies and design firmshas made it cost-prohibitive for businesses, especially self-employedindividuals and small businesses, to purchase professional qualityprinted materials.

The widespread growth of PC's and desktop publishing software has madeit possible for anyone to design printed materials on their PC andfurnish the digital layout file to a printer. However, these users donot always have an easy way to get professional-quality printing fortheir files. In addition, excess production capacity (idle presses) is achronic problem in the capital-intensive printing industry. To solvethis problem, printing services have made print orders available toprinting companies through a bidding system that uses request forquotations.

This bidding system is time intensive because it requires a printingcompany to spend time estimating more jobs than it receives. Forexample, a printing company may enter bids on ten jobs, but only win thebid on five jobs. Thus, the printing company wasted time entering bidson jobs it did not receive. Further, this method of obtaining work isrisky because the company is forced to bid on more work than it can do;thus, when a company underestimates the number of bids it will win, itmay be left with more work than it can handle, or vice versa.

The bidding process used in the printing industry is also used by manyother industries where production companies compete for work. Inaddition, other industries have production capacity issues, where it isdifficult to control the flow of work from day to day.

There is a need for a system and method of matching job orders in aspecific industry, such as the printing industry, with companies havingexcess production capacity in that industry. Further, there is a need tomake the job orders instantly available to the companies in a standardformat and at a fixed price, without requiring the production companiesto incur the expense of generating price quotes in an attempt to captureorders.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention, in one embodiment, is a system and method ofmatching live print orders with excess printing capacity. The presentinvention utilizes a printing network that consists of a printingservice provider, one or more print jobs, and printing partners. Theprinting service provider uses a printing distribution system todistribute standardized print jobs to printing partners at a fixedprice. The printing partners can then select and complete one or moreprint jobs.

The present invention, in another embodiment, includes a printingdistribution system. In the present invention, the print jobs are sentto the printing distribution system before being sent to the printingpartners. The printing distribution system utilizes various parametersto determine whether to direct each order to the in-house productioncapacity operated by the printing service provider, or to make the orderavailable to the network of printing partners. The system determineswhich orders are made available to each partner based on factors such asprinting capabilities, location, and rating. Thus, partners do not spendtime sifting through print orders not applicable or undesirable to them.

The printing network provides a convenient, easy-to-use resource via asystem that allows printing partners to utilize their excess printingcapacity. The printing network is part of a printing scheme that allowscustomers to enter printing orders via the Internet, telephone, mail,fax or other method and receive the finished product via the mail,United Parcel Service, Federal Express, or other type of deliveryservice.

The present invention, in a subsequent embodiment, is a system andmethod for matching job orders in a specific industry with companieshaving excess production capacity in that industry. As with the printingnetwork described above, the subsequent embodiment of the presentinvention utilizes a production network to distribute job orders in astandard format and at a fixed price to fulfillment partners havingexcess production capacity.

The present invention is attractive to partners because it allows themto increase revenues without depressing local pricing. It also allowsthem to maintain full utilization of their high-end productionfacilities by accessing job orders based on capabilities and workload.

While multiple embodiments are disclosed, still other embodiments of thepresent invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art fromthe following detailed description. As will be apparent, the inventionis capable of modifications in various obvious aspects, all withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the present invention.Accordingly, the drawings and detailed description are to be regarded asillustrative in nature and not restrictive.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a flow chart showing a printing network, according to oneembodiment of the present invention

FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing a printing network, according to a secondembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing a printing distribution system, which ispart of the printing network shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing a production network, according to athird embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 5-11 are computer screen shots showing software applications forutilizing excess printing capacity, according to additional embodimentsof the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 is a flow chart of Printing Network 100, according to oneembodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the PrintingNetwork 100 provides printing services for Print Orders 102. ThePrinting Network 100 includes a Printing Service Provider 104, PrintJobs 106, and Printing Partners 108.

The Print Orders 102 are submitted by customers via the Internet orother methods to the Printing Service Provider 104. The Print Orders 102are developed by customers using a myriad of different applicationprograms and then sent to the Printing Service Provider 104 in numerousformats. The Print Orders 102 also include customer specificationsregarding printing requirements.

The Printing Service Provider 104 provides an on-line printing servicefor Print Orders 102. In other words, the Printing Service Provider 104receives Print Orders 102 via the Internet and other methods and thenproduces and delivers it to the customer based on a customer-quotedprice. In one embodiment, the Printing Service Provider establishes acustomer-quoted price for each Print Order 102 by providing the customerwith a job configuration and price calculator that resides on thecustomer's computer, as disclosed in co-pending U.S. application Ser.No. 09/518,060, filed Mar. 2, 2000, which is incorporated herein byreference in its entirety. The job configuration and price calculatorallows the customer to automatically obtain a fixed price for each PrintOrder 102 based on the printing parameters selected by the customer.Thus, a new customer-quoted price is generated each time a customerselects a different job configuration. Once a customer is satisfied withthe job configuration and customer-quoted price, the customer submitsthe Print Order 102 to the Printing Service Provider 104. In analternative embodiment, the Printing Service Provider 104 may obtain aPrint Order 102 using a custom quotation process, wherein the price mayvary based on a variety of factors, such as the size or timing of theorder. Ultimately, the Printing Service Provider 104 may use any methoddesirable to obtain a Print Order 102 and establish a customer-quotedprice for the Print Order 102.

In addition to generating a customer-quoted price for each Print Order102, the Printing Service Provider 104 converts each Print Order 102into a standard digital format utilizing conventional conversionprograms, such as Adobe Acrobat Distiller. The converted Print Orders102 are referred to as Print Jobs 106. The digital proofs of Print Jobs106 are sent to customers by the Printing Service Provider 104 forapproval. Upon customer approval of the proof, the Print Jobs 106 areready for printing. The digital format of Print Jobs 106 allows anynumber of on-line printing services to access and print the Print Jobs106 without further manipulation. Each Print Job 106 includes, but isnot limited to, one or more standard digital files containing a link tothe digital files for the product that needs printing, the number ofcopies needed, the format of the copies, any binding requirements forthe copies, etc. The Printing Service Provider 104 calculates a pricefor each Print Job 106 as a percentage of the customer-quoted price;thus, each Print Job 106 can be made available to on-line printingservices for a set price.

The Printing Service Provider 104 makes information about the Print Jobs106 available via the Internet to a network of pre-qualified printingproviders referred to as Printing Partners 108. The Printing Partners108 are pre-qualified by the Printing Service Provider 104 based on anynumber of qualifications. For example, the Printing Service Provider 104may require each Printing Partner 108 to have a certain level ofprinting capability or be able to handle special printing requests, suchas high-end color printing. The Printing Service Provider 104 mayrequire each Printing Partner 108 to access Print Jobs 106 utilizingsecure access methods, such as a login with a password. In addition, thePrinting Service Provider 104 may allow Printing Partner 108 to view allavailable Print Jobs 106 or only a limited portion of the Print Jobs 106based on pre-defined criteria for that Printing Partner 108.

Each Printing Partner 108 can view each Print Job 106, including all theprinting parameters and the pre-set price, and decide whether or not ithas the capacity to handle the job. The Printing Partners 108 are neverrequired to select and print any of the Print Jobs 106, but instead canselect the jobs based on their capacity. At the same time, the PrintJobs 106 are made available on a first-come, first-served basis, suchthat Printing Partners 108 are not guaranteed Print Jobs 106. Inaddition, the Printing Service Provider 104 may not make all the PrintJobs 106 available to all the Printing Partners 108. As an example, thePrinting Service Provider 104 may not make catalogs available toPrinting Partners 108 that are not capable of printing catalogs.

As explained above, the Print Jobs 106 are made available at presetprices based on a percentage of the customer-quoted prices. Thus, thePrinting Network 100 involves no request for quotation or biddingbetween the Printing Service Provider 104 and the Printing Partners 108.In addition, Printing Partners 108 are not required to submit generalpricing information for use in pricing Print Jobs 106. Thus, thePrinting Partners 108 can view live jobs, and the first Printing Partner108 who sees the job and commits to meeting the specified shipping datefor the pre-established price can claim the job. This process allows thePrinting Partners 108 to instantly select one or more of the Print Jobs106 instead of spending time bidding jobs they are not guaranteed toreceive. In addition, Printing Partners 108 save money by selecting thePrint Jobs 106 that produce the greatest profits based upon theircurrent production capacity. The end result is that the PrintingPartners 108 can utilize excess printing capacity on a just-in-timebasis.

FIG. 2 shows a second embodiment of the Printing Network 100 thatutilizes Printing Distribution System 110 to pre-sort Print Jobs 106.Printing Distribution System 110 limits the Print Jobs 106 that can beviewed and selected by the Printing Partners 108 based on, but notlimited to, the capacity and services offered by each Printing Partner110. This eliminates the time the Printing Partners 110 spend sortingthrough jobs that are not applicable or desirable to their respectiveprinting services. For example, not all Printing Partners 110 arecapable of printing large posters. Thus, only Printing Partners 110 thatcan print large posters would be able to view jobs involving largeposter boards.

FIG. 3 shows an example of the sorting process used by PrintingDistribution System 110. Printing Distribution System 110 may be appliedmanually or automatically utilizing a software program that may resideon Printing Service Provider's 104 computer or a stand-alone computernetworked with the Printing Service Provider's 104 computer. PrintingDistribution System 110 steps through a series of questions to determinewhere to post particular Print Jobs 106. In other words, PrintingDistribution System 110 determines which Print Jobs 106 will be madeavailable to each Printing Partner 108.

As shown in FIG. 3, Print Job 106 is entered into Printing DistributionSystem 110. Initially, the System 110 determines if one of the PrintingPartners 108 handled one or more of the previous jobs for a particularcustomer. If a Printing Partner 108 has worked with a previous customer,then the Print Job 106 for that customer may be made available to thatspecific Partner 108 for a pre-established amount of time, such as threehours. An additional notification, via e-mail, telephone, pager, orother means, may also be sent to the Partner 108 to alert them of theavailability of the order. This allows the Partner 108 to take advantageof its familiarity with a particular customer and for the customer toreceive the same type of service and satisfaction that it previouslyreceived from the Partner 108. If the Partner 108 does not select thejob within that pre-set time, the job is sent through PrintingDistribution System 108 again.

Although not shown in FIG. 3, this step may also include determining ifthe job was previously handled by Printing Service Provider 104. Inother words, Printing Service Provider 104 may have provided theprevious printing service to a customer. As explained previously,Printing Service Provider 104 is not required to make a certain amountof Print Jobs 106 available to the Printing Partners 108, but insteadmay only make Print Jobs 106 available that are beyond its capacity.Thus, if the Printing Service Provider 104 handled the previous PrintJob 106 from a particular customer, then it would have the option ofhandling the next Print Job 106 from that customer. The PrintingDistribution System 108 is flexible and is not limited to handling PrintJobs 106 from previous customers in the manner described above, butinstead may opt for a more efficient method based on day to dayexperience of distributing the Print Jobs 106.

Another factor that may be used by the Printing Distribution System 106to decide how to handle Print Jobs 106 is the rush order status of ajob, as shown in FIG. 3. Rush orders are typically handled in-house bythe Printing Service Provider 104 to insure the project is done timely.These orders typically have a higher profit margin, which provides anincentive for the Printing Service Provider 104 to keep the work inhouse. However, the Printing Distribution System 110 is not limited tohandling rush orders in the this manner.

There are many parameters used by Printing Distribution System 110 todetermine which Printing Partners 108 will be allowed to see Print Jobs106. The parameters shown in FIG. 3 provide an example of two criteria,but Printing Distribution System 110 is not limited to these parameters.Additional parameters may include, but are not limited to: geographiclocation (i.e., preference for closer states or UPS zones), quantity,paper stock type, coating selection (i.e., flood aqueous, gloss varnish,dull varnish, etc.), product type (brochures, postcards, stationery,etc.), and rating. The sequence of the parameters is not limited.Depending on the criteria of an individual Print Job 106, a uniquesequence of parameters may be used to determine where to post the job.In certain situations, an individual Print Job 106 may be made availableto only one Printing Partner 108, but typically Print Jobs 106 are madeavailable to multiple Printing Partners 108. One Printing Partner 108 isnever allowed to monopolize all the print jobs. At the same time, onlythose jobs that fit the parameters of a Printing Partner 108 aretypically made available to the Partner 108. This ensures that thePrinting Partners 108 do not have to sort through lots of inapplicableor undesirable orders to find Print Jobs 106 that are suitable to theircapabilities. The Printing Distribution System 110 is a flexible systemand has the ability of making none, all, or some of the Job Orders 106available to each Printing Partner 108 based on pre-establishedcriteria.

As mentioned above, rating is one of the parameters that may be used bythe Printing Distribution System 110 to determine which Print Jobs 106are made available to each Printing Partner 108. To establish a ratingfor each Printing Partner 108, each Partner 108 is rated by the PrintingService Provider 104 according to performance and assigned a “grade” orperformance rating based upon performance criteria. The performancecriteria includes, but is not limited to: overall print quality, colorbalance, registration, success rate in processing print files, on-timeshipment performance, and a variety of other measurements. These ratingsare frequently reviewed and updated to insure the Printing Partners 108are producing quality products for customers. For example, in order togive the Printing Partners 108 an incentive to perform at the bestpossible level, the Printing Distribution System 110 may allowhigher-rated partners to have access to jobs before lower-ratedpartners.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of Production Network 120, according to a thirdembodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 4, the ProductionNetwork 120 aggregates and distributes Orders 122. The ProductionNetwork 120 includes a Production Service Provider 124, Production Jobs126, and Fulfillment Partners 128. The Orders 122 and associatedspecifications are submitted by customers via the Internet or othermethods in various formats. One or more of the Orders 122 are thenconverted into Production Jobs 126 by converting each Order 122 into aformat that is understandable and useable by the Fulfillment Partners128. The Productions Jobs are made available to the Fulfillment partners128. In alternative embodiments, the Production Jobs are made availableto one or more Fulfillment Partners 128 based on pre-defined criteria,such as the location of the Partner 128.

FIGS. 5-11 are computer screen shots showing user interfaces for variousembodiments of the Printing Network 100. In FIG. 5, the user interfaceincludes Global Settings 130 and Enable Individual Orders 132. GlobalSettings 130 and Enable Individual Orders 132 include various criteriathat can be turned on and off for use by the Printing DistributionSystem 110. The Printing Distribution System 110 is not limited to usingthe number and order of criteria shown in FIG. 5, but may include anynumber of criteria used in any order.

In FIG. 5, the first criteria considered by the Printing DistributionSystem 110 is whether to automatically or manually distribute Print Jobs106. Regardless of whether the decision is made manually orautomatically, the same, criteria may be used. In alternativeembodiments, different criteria may be used to make manual versusautomatic decisions for distributing the Print Jobs 106.

If the “Enable Partner Auto Assignment” box, shown under Global Settings130, is not selected, then a user may manually distribute the Print Jobs106 using the interface shown in FIG. 6. In FIG. 6, the user can look atthe information displayed under the various Dashboard Headings 134 todetermine where a Print Job 106 should be sent. For example, if a StatusHeading 136 displays a number, such as “21,” indicating that a decisionneeds to be made on a particular order, then a user may look at theinformation displayed under Dashboard Headings 134 to make the manualdetermination. If the user decides to send the work to the PrintingNetwork 100, then Post2Net 138 may be selected. On the other hand, ifthe user decides to keep the work in house, then ECP 140 (which refersto “Express Color Printing,” the in-house printing provider's name inthis example), may be selected.

If the “Enable Partner Auto Assignment” box is selected in FIG. 5, thenPrint Jobs 106 are automatically distributed by the PrintingDistribution System 110. A number of other interfaces are used toconfigure and show the status of the Printing Distribution System 110.For example, FIG. 7 shows the product types that ECP, the PrintingService Provider 104, can handle. The interface shown in FIG. 7 can alsobe used to configure the product types for each of the Printing Partners108. The information under Exclusive Products Headings 142 allows a userto select the specific products that ECP or one of the Printing Partners108 is capable of printing. While ECP may be handled exclusively as thePrinting Service Provider 104, it may also be treated as one of thePrinting Partners 110.

FIG. 8 provides an example of an interface that establishes geographiclocation and product information for each of the Printing Partners 108.Geographic Zones 144 shows the location of a Printing Partner 108,“Moody Graphics,” relative to other states. Product Types 146 shows thetype of products that “Moody Graphics” is capable of printing. Thisinformation may be used automatically by Printing Distribution System110 or manually by a user to distribute Print Jobs 106 to the PrintingPartners 108.

The interface shown in FIG. 9 follows the decisions being made byPrinting Distribution System 110 when distributing Print Jobs 106. ThePartner Assignment Headings 148 represent the type and order of criteriathat are considered by Printing Distribution System 110. As an example,in FIG. 5, if the “Check If Is ECP Local State” box is selected, thenthe first criteria used to distribute Print Jobs 106 is whether thePrint Jobs 106 will be delivered to customers that reside in states thatare local to ECP. If one of the Print Jobs 106, such as the first PrintJob shown in FIG. 9, is local to ECP, then under “Is Local State,” willshow the answer as “true.” If the answer is “true,” the Print Job 106 isgiven to ECP. If the answer is “false,” then the next criteria shown inFIG. 5 is considered. Printing Distribution System 110 will step throughall the criteria shown in FIG. 5 until a “true” statement is reached andthe Print Job 106 is distributed to either ECP or one or more of thePrinting Partners 108. The status of each of the criteria shown in FIG.5 is reflected in the chart in FIG. 9, allowing a user to determine howeach Print Job 106 was distributed.

FIG. 10 shows an example of an interface listing potential print jobsfor Printing Partners 108. This interface allows the Printing Partners108 to evaluate the Print Jobs 106 based on the information under theAvailable and Active Job Headings 150. The interface integrates with thePrinting Service Provider's 104 database in real-time. The PrintingPartners 108 can then instantly select one or more jobs to process andassign an internal job order number. In addition, the Printing Partners108 can use this site to generate job tickets with all the informationneeded to complete each Print Job 106. The site also provides a link fordownloading Print Jobs 106. The link may be directly to Printing ServiceProvider's 104 internal server or to an outside server.

FIG. 11 shows an example of a job ticket created when a Printing Partner108 selects one of the Print Jobs 106. The job ticket includes FinancialInformation 152 and Printing Specifications 154, in addition to all theother information needed to complete the Print Job 106.

The Printing Network 100 is designed to allow printing companies toliquidate their excess capacity anonymously, outside of their localmarket area. This allows the Printing Partners 108 to utilize theirexcess capacity (which would otherwise go to waste) without depressingpricing in their local market area. It also allows the Printing Partners108 to keep their operational costs down because they can balance theequipment loading in their plants, selling excess press and binderytime, in order to maximize capacity utilization.

The Printing Network 100 takes advantage of excess printing capacity byforming a partnership with printing companies that have excess capacity.The Printing Network 100 efficiently utilizes the excess capacity byallowing partners to instantly select live orders based on fixed prices.

Although the present invention has been described with reference topreferred embodiments, persons skilled in the art will recognize thatchanges may be made in form and detail without departing from the spiritand scope of the invention.

1. A method for utilizing excess printing capacity, the methodcomprising: providing a printing service provider which administers aprinting distribution system, the printing service provider receivingprint orders directly from a customer and overseeing and ensuringcompletion of the print job and performing printing of print jobs;establishing a network of one or more printing partners which performexcess print jobs of the printing service provider which are madeavailable to the printing partners by the printing distribution systemof the printing service provider, wherein an excess print job is a printjob that the printing service provider does not have capacity tocomplete; making one or more of the excess print jobs of the printingservice provider available on-line by the printing distribution systemof the printing service provider, to the printing partners at a fixedprice that is a percentage of a customer-quoted price and set by theprinting service provider, where the determination of which printingpartners to make the excess print jobs available to is made exclusivelyby the printing distribution system of the printing service providerbased on one or more pre-established criteria including performanceparameters reflecting quality of past performance of the printingpartners; and allowing the printing partners to select and complete oneor more of the excess print jobs.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein themethod further includes creating the one or more excess print jobs byaggregating one or more orders from customers and converting the one ormore orders into a standard format that is understandable and useable bythe printing partners.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein thepre-established criteria includes geography and product attributes. 4.The method of claim 2 wherein each of the one or more excess print jobsincludes printing specifications.
 5. A system for utilizing excessprinting capacity, the system comprising: a printing service providerthat administers a printing distribution system, the printing serviceprovider receiving print orders directly from a customer and overseeingand ensuring completion of the print job and performing printing ofprint jobs; one or more excess print jobs, wherein an excess print jobis a print job that the printing service provider does not have thecapacity to complete itself; a network of one or more printing partnersbeing established by the printing service provider, wherein the printingpartners perform excess print jobs of the printing service provider,which are made available to the printing partners by the printingdistribution system of the printing service provider at a fixed pricethat is determined by the printing service provider as a percentage of acustomer-quoted price; wherein the one or more excess print jobs of theprinting service provider are made available on-line by the printingdistribution system of the printing service provider, to the printingpartners based on one or more pre-established criteria includingperformance parameters reflecting quality of past performance of theprinting partners, and wherein the determination of which printingpartners to make the excess print jobs available to is made exclusivelyby the printing distribution system of the printing service provider;and the printing partners are allowed to select and complete the one ormore excess print jobs at the fixed price established by the printingservice provider.
 6. The system of claim 5, wherein the pre-establishedcriteria includes geography and product attributes.
 7. The system ofclaim 5, wherein the one or more excess print jobs are in a standardformat that is understandable and useable by the printing partners. 8.The system of claim 5, wherein each of the one or more excess print jobsincludes printing specifications.
 9. A system for utilizing excessprinting capacity, the system comprising: at least onecustomer-generated print order; and a printing network comprising, aprinting service provider that receives the at least onecustomer-generated print order at a customer-quoted price provided bythe printing service provider; at least one print job that has beenconverted from at least one print order into a standard digital formatby the printing service provider; and at least one printing partner thatcan in real-time select on a first-come first-served basis any print jobmade available to it by the printing service provider at a price set bythe printing service provider that is a percentage of thecustomer-quoted price; wherein the printing service provider makes printjobs available to at least one printing partner through a printingdistribution system that is administered and managed by the printingservice provider, the printing distribution system determining whether aprint job will be completed by the printing service provider or whetherthe print job will be completed by a printing partner, wherein if theprint job will be completed by a printing partner, the printingdistribution system determines which specific printing partner(s) tomake a particular print job available to based on at least one of theprinting partners' printing capabilities, location, or rating, where aprinting partner's rating may be at least partially established by thequality of the printing partners past performance.
 10. The system ofclaim 9, wherein the printing distribution system of the printingservice provider makes excess print jobs available to printing partners,where excess print jobs are print jobs that are beyond the capacity ofthe printing service provider to complete.
 11. The system of claim 9,the printing distribution system further comprising making at least oneprint job available to a printing partner that has completed a print jobin the past for a customer that has submitted the at least one printjob, wherein the at least one print job may be made exclusivelyavailable to the printing partner for a limited amount of time asestablished by the printing service provider.
 12. The system of claim11, wherein if the printing partner does not select the at least oneprint job to complete within the limited amount of time, the printingdistribution system of the printing service provider will make the atleast one print job available to other printing partners.
 13. A methodfor a printing service provider to utilize excess printing capacity ofprinting partners in the printing service provider's network of printingpartners, the method comprising: receiving at least onecustomer-generated print order by a printing service provider, whereinthe price charged for the at least one print order is a customer-quotedprice generated by the printing service provider; converting the atleast one customer-generated print order into a print job by making theprint order into a standard digital format, wherein the print order isconverted into a print job by the printing service provider;pre-qualifying at least one printing partner to comprise the printingservice provider's network of printing partners, wherein the printingservice provider pre-qualifies the printing partners; using a printingdistribution system that is administered and managed by the printingservice provider to determine whether the at least one print job will becompleted by the printing service provider or whether the at least oneprint job will be made available to one or more printing partners in theprinting service provider's network of printing partners; using theprinting distribution system of the printing service provider to makeprint jobs that will be made available to printing partners to determinewhich printing partners in the network of printing partners to make theprint job available to based on at least one of the printingcapabilities, location, or rating of each printing partner, where therating of each printing partner may be at least partially established bythe quality of each printing partner's past performance; setting a fixedprice for each print job that is made available to at least one printingpartner in the network of printing partners, wherein the fixed price isset by the printing service provider and is a percentage of thecustomer-quoted price; and making a print job available to at least oneprinting partner in the printing service provider's network of printingpartners at the fixed price, wherein the first printing partner toselect the print job in real-time is awarded the print job at the fixedprice.